The warriors nobles

                                                                  THE WARRIORS NOBLES

                                  

The knight was a warrior on horseback of the Latin Christendom that was serving to the king or to another feudal owners like compensation for the tenancy of a territorial domain or for money. The participation of the knight in the Crusades caused the creation, in Holy Land, of the so called military orders; and later, in Europe, of the so called knighthood orders.

The vital trajectory of a knight  was, in general, that of a man noble who, having served in it is first youth like page and squire, was then promoted by its Superiors to the Knight status, during a ceremony the applicant usually took an oath of being brave, loyal and polite, as well as protecting the defenceless ones; what was named the knighthood code.

The knights were born of the need to defend the feudal domains against all kinds of enemies, including the lootings and pillages and the road bandits. The knights were defendings the interests on the owners who were maintaining them; what between other things supposed guaranteeing the cashing of the charges imposed on the peasants.

Inside this feudal structure, the knights were maintaining a fief that a owner had granted to them, in exchange for producing homage and giving him service with the weapon. In turn this owner could be a vassal of another more powerful owner, or the riding being served by other knight of low status. In the course of time they were great them serve, sometimes of humble origin socially, that wanted to turn into Knight, by what there was imposed a selective test, which finished with taking the form of an initiation ceremony, blessed for the Church, called recognition or clapping. As it´s name indicates, the rite was consisting of the solemn blow started to the beginner for its godfather or knight who him had instructed and was introducing him in the Knighthood. The prestige that acquired the said ceremony and the sacred character that awarded him the Church, provoked that many birth noblemen were making arm themselves knight. With the time, about the XIII century, nobility and knighthood ended up by making a mistake, although in general the noblemen were the persons in charge of maintaining the peace due to it´s assumption of real authority, and sometimes to a special charisma based on it´s descent of heroes or saints, while the knight were it´s assistants, without a distinguished lineage and with little or no ground. Nevertheless, it is necessary to highlight that the knight´s title is not a part of the feudal roster in itself, but it can to assume to masters of very different status. Examples of it are Ricardo III of England, which, before being a king, was a duke of Gloucester and Knight was armed, or Eduardo the Black prince, who was the Prince of Wales and duke and knight was armed after the Creçy battle.

The chivalrous ideals were: Value, defence, faith, humility, justice, generosity, restraint, allegiance and nobility

The weapon of the medieval knight was answering to the proper heavy knighthood of an epoch previous to the firearms.

The team of protection, which initially was limiting itself to a helmet or helmet, a shield, and in it´s case a mesh level was complicated by the time, adding a cuirass to the one that more and more numerous pieces were articulating, up to composing armour that could weigh easily more than 25 kg,

The sword was the personal weapon and "of hand" more common for the singular combat, in which a Knight was facing to other The mace and the axe they were completing the team of personal weapon "of hand", useful to attack the armour. The mace was a studded heavy ball associated straight with a handle

The spear was the second favourite weapon of a Knight. The honesty of its flagstaff was symbolizing the truth, and its head of iron, the force.